Retaliation killings of journalists doubled in 2018

The killings of journalists are on the rise globally. Most journalists are being targeted and persecuted for investigating and reporting about organised crimes, corruption and other ills of society. They are being targeted by criminals, terrorists and many others simply for doing their jobs.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its annual report published in December of last year said that the number of journalists killed worldwide in retaliation for their work nearly doubled in the year 2018. The New York-based organisation has found that 34 journalists were killed in retaliation for their work as of December 14, 2018, while at least 53 were killed overall. This is almost twice the number of 18 retaliation killings among the 47 deaths of journalists documented by the committee in 2017. The report includes the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a native of Saudi Arabia and who was fiercely critical of its royal regime. Khashoggi's death on October 2, 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul had sent ripples along the global political scene as there were allegations that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had ordered the execution of the journalist.

While on a self-imposed exile, Khashoggi was living in the USA. He had gone to the Saudi consulate to formalise his divorce. But was instead strangled and dismembered allegedly by Saudi agents.

There was a time when the killing of a journalist triggered vehement protests from world leaders. But the indifference of US President Donald Trump about Khashoggi's case actually belittled the severity of the crime. When asked whether he believed that the crown prince had ordered Khashoggi's murder, Trump had said in November 2018, "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't". It is well known that Trump has business ties with Muhammad Bin Salman.

Trump's adversity against journalists is also an important factor in the significant rise of persecution of journalists. Trump has called journalists "enemies of the people" even though he condemned violence against journalists.

In addition to retaliation killings, journalists across the world including Bangladesh have died in combat or crossfire or while being on other dangerous assignments. Afghanistan has been the deadliest country for journalists in 2018. There 13 journalists were killed, some in back-to-back blasts staged by suicide bombers. These incidents were claimed by the militant group Islamic State.

Reporters without Borders, a media freedom group, said that in 2018, the US made it into the top five deadliest countries for journalists for the first time. On June 28, 2018, six people died, including four who were among five people killed by a gunman who opened fire in the offices of Maryland newspaper Capital Gazette. The shooting was the deadliest single attack on the media in recent history of the US. A sales associate of the newspaper was also killed. After losing a defamation lawsuit, the man had threatened the Capital Gazette. Two others had also died in the US while covering extreme weather.

Last year, in Slovakia, 27-year-old investigative reporter Jan Kuciak was fatally shot while she was probing an alleged corruption. In Malta, Daphne Caruana Galizia was on a similar mission. She was killed by a bomb explosion in her car. At least four journalists were murdered in Mexico, two in Brazil. During protests in the Gaza Strip, two Palestinian journalists were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. In two of the worst civil war decimated countries, Syria and Yemen, there were nine deaths of journalists in 2018 compared to a maximum of 31 in 2012. Some international experts felt that the drop last year may have been due to limited access or extreme risks that discouraged media visits to these two countries.

However, woefully, the killing and persecution of journalists are also happening in countries where peace apparently prevails. In addition to deaths, the imprisonment of journalists has been on the rise.

The context for the crisis is varied and complex. It is closely tied to changes in technology which is allowing more people to practice journalism. The trend has also made journalists expendable to the political and criminal groups. Time magazine recognised jailed and murdered journalists as its "person of the year" in 2018. The list included Khashoggi, Maria Ressa imprisoned in the Philippines, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo imprisoned in Myanmar, and staff of the Capital Gazette.

Sarwar Md Saifullah Khaled is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre.

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